Peters



i il FIC J. E. SMITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAILROAD.

Specication of LettersPatent No. 5,558, dated May 9, 1848.

To all whom t may concern.' l

Be it known that I, J. ELNATHAN SMITH, of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railroad- Tracks, and that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which distinguishes it from all other things before known, and of the manner of making, constructing, and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specilication, in which- Figures l and 2 represent an elevation and cross section of a rail road track with the T rails and Figs. 3 and at an elevation and cross section of a rail road track with the fiat rail.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the iigures.

The injury sustained by rail roads and locomotives and other carriages that run on them by reason of the want of elasticity to yield to the jars and shocks-resulting from Jthe rapid transits of trainswis known to be the leading source of cost of repairs and of much. ofthe jar and tremor so disagreeable to passengers.

The nature of my invention, to avoid in a great measure this difficulty, consists in interposing india rubber or other elastic substance between the iron rails and the beds on which they rest and to which they are attached, to act as elastic cushions and ease off the sudden shocks or ars of locomotives and other cars when passing over the rails.

In the accompanying drawings (a, a) Figs. l and 2 represent the string pieces of the road and (Z9, Z2) the cross ties or sills to which the T rails are secured by means of chairs (c, 0,) but instead of resting the web of the rails (LZ, 03,) immediately on the chairs, sheets of india rubber (ee,) or other like elastic substance are interposed, the rails being then secured in place in the usual manner. In this way the rails are supported at given distances, that is at their points of connection with the bed of the road, by an elastic medium which will yield to the sudden shocks produced by the passage of trains, and thus ease them off in a great measure to relieve the bed of the road, rails, &c., as well as the locomotive, and prevent much of the wear and tear on rail roads. form a continuous bed for the rails (f, f), as shown in Figs. 3 and 4c, then the india rubber or other elastic substance is to be interposed in continuous strips (g, g) between the rails and stringers or bed 7L, 7L, which are to be fastened in the usual way.

The kind of elastic substance which I prefer for this purpose is the preparation of india rubber known as the metallic rubber when prepared to resist the action of heat and moisture without materially changing its elastic properties.

l/Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- The method substantially as herein described of giving elasticity to the lail's of rail road tracks by interposing between the iron rails and the stringers, cross ties, sills or chairs strips or sheets of india rubber or other like or similar elastic substance or substances,.substantially as herein described. whereby much of the injury now sustained by the tracks of rail roads and the locomotive and other cars produced by the shocks and jars consequent on the rapid transits of trains is avoided or modified.

J. ELNATI-IAN SMITI-I.

Witnesses:

T. A. I-Iown, MORTIMER MARBLE.

Ihen the tracks are of a kind to 

